Huffington Post

Soon more than 100,000 caribou will be roaming the coastal plain, with females nursing their new-born calves. Polar bears will have left their dens and headed off to coastal waters. Millions of migratory songbirds and waterfowl will be nesting. The Gwich'in people will be fishing and hunting and building stores for the winter, as they have for thousands of years.

As we commemorate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, I remember my dear friend and "Father of Earth Day," Gaylord Nelson. Gaylord was not just an environmental advocate or U.S. Governor and Senator — he was a game-changer who inspired a nation and thrust the environmental movement into a legacy of lasting achievements and activism. The Wilderness Society takes a special interest in this particular anniversary because when Gaylord left the Senate in 1981 he joined our staff, and was a counselor until his death in 2005.